Stevens came up with the round as a chambering for the Ideal model rifle.
It achieved a small but loyal following in the target community, but couldn't make the jump from black powder to smokless.
It was apparently one of the last rounds to be introduced with black powder.
You'll note the box in Carguy's link has a small sticker plastered on the end...
"SPECIAL"
This normally means that the round could be purchased either as a black powder or smokless loading, and that the cases could be reloaded with black powder.
This is, however, the first time I've ever seen the label pasted onto a box of ammo.
